Afternoon everyone,

 

I really hope that someone has any light that they can shed on this as I'm at a complete loss.  3 1/2 years ago, on New Year's day, no less, I came to start my car and voila - no lights.  I figured that a fuse had gone - so checked everything in the glove box - nope, all fine.  I ended up taking it to a local garage in the village (as there were very few daylight hours) the next day and he had a poke around.  A couple of hours later, he rang me and said that a relay had gone and he'd sorted it for me.  I picked up the car at about 5pm (so pitch black outside) and I went to put my auto-lights on - nothing.  He said "Oh yeah, that doesn't work anymore" and sent me on my merry way.  Over the coming days, I found other problems that weren't there beforehand:

Specs of vehicle:

2008 Mk 6 facelift 'Zetec blue' edition with technology pack

Problems:

No auto-lights

No auto-wipers

No air conditioning (the button lights up but nothing happens - no compressor kicking in)

No folding mirrors

 

All of these issues occurred after I found out that he'd changed the GEM (body control module) on the car.  I have phoned numerous Ford garages and they've all given me the same part number: 6s6t-15k600-CL.  I went ahead and ordered one from Ebay - with the exact same issue.  And furthermore, the one that I pulled out of my car (that he'd changed) was also the exact same number.  I've had an auto-electrician out to me twice now and he can't find any fault with the wiring loom at all.  He plugged his computer into it and it read it as a 'standard' module.  Does anyone know if it says 'standard' for all GEMs?  He was kinda expecting it to say something other than 'standard' as that's what he'd expect to see on, say, a style or studio.

I spoke to a ford 'master technician' at Sandicliffe (where I bought my car from 11 years ago) and he seems to reckon that 'this is a big job and not for a general auto-electrician' and 'you're looking at least 4 hours work to reprogram the module.'  Part of me suspects that this is a big fat porkie-pie and that he just wants to make some money for the garage - but another part of me is wondering if there's any truth to it.

Basically, after the problem with my car 3 1/2 years ago, I've now got 4 different features that no longer work.  These are 4 features that were part of the Zetec edition of the car, which I don't think can be a coincidence.  It leads me to believe one of the following:

1) the GEM is indeed the incorrect part number (even though 2 different Ford garages have confirmed its part number)

2) The GEM that the garage replaced 3 1/2 years ago AND the one that I just bought and fitted from eBay are both faulty - with the same fault

3) The wiring is bad in my car (which I have now ruled out, having had an auto-electrician check it out)

4) The GEM does indeed need reprogramming (which the auto-electrician says isn't possible, as there are zero parameters to change in it)

 

To save my sanity, and the rest of my hair, as huge chunks have been pulled out - has anyone had any experience with one of these failing on them, and if so, what you did to remedy it?

Thanks in advance!

You can write into the GEM using a modified elm with FORScan, enabling the features you have “lost” not certain it will work but defo worth a try, you can pick up a decent elm on eBay for under £20